If you suffer from lower back pain… especially if it has crept up slowly or if it keeps coming back. Have you thought about how your rib cage and breathing affect things? Have you noticed the connection between the rib cage and your pelvis… and that strong fascial layer that connects them – the Thoraco-lumbar fascia? If this fascia is tight, restricted, strained… It affects how the rib cage and the pelvis move. AND how the lower back needs to move or stain as a result. So if you ave chronic stiffness; difficulty walking in a smooth, comfortable motion; pain that returns no matter what you do. This may be the answer.

Want to read the transcript instead?

here it is…

The Hidden System Behind Your Lower Back Pain

Lower Back Discomfort?

 If your lower back feels tight, tired, or like it keeps getting irritated, no matter what you do, it might not be a strength issue. It might be a load transfer issue. Because your lower back isn’t designed to work on its own. It’s part of a much bigger system that shares load through the body, and right at the center of that system is a structure that most people don’t think about at all. The diaphragm.

Hi, I am Alexis Weidland,

osteopath and nutritionist at Blossoming Me and Healthy Learning Lounge. And in this video I want to show you how your diaphragm, fascia, and deep body connections influence your lower back. And why your back often ends up doing more work than it should.

Position

The lower back sits between the rib cage above the pelvis below, and the legs that move you. Because of this, it acts like a transfer station for force. Every time you walk, bend, lift, twist, forces need to move smoothly through your body.

When the system works well, movement feels efficient, easy, comfortable. The back doesn’t get overloaded. But when it doesn’t work well. The lower back starts to pick up the slack. And then, over time, muscles tighten; joints get irritated; discs might bulge or get damaged; nerves can become stressed, irritated, inflamed.

Load Transfer

The body manages movement through something called load transfer. This is how force moves between the rib cage, the spine, the pelvis and the hips, and into the legs and the other way as well.

Structures

Diaphragm

And one of the key systems that controls this is your diaphragm and the fascial system. See the diaphragm is more than just a breathing muscle. Most people think of it as just something that helps you to breathe and well, it does.

But it also is a

• pressure regulator and
• spinal stabilizer and
• central connector in the body.

When the diaphragm contracts and moves well, it creates a pressure change from the chest to the abdomen. That pressure supports the spine and helps to distribute load efficiently. When breathing becomes shallow or restricted, or the ribcage doesn’t move properly. That system doesn’t work as well, and the lower back often has to compensate.

This is where things get really interesting because the diaphragm doesn’t work alone. It connects with three major systems that directly influence your lower back.

The first is the thoracolumbar fascia.

The diaphragm connects into this large sheet of connective tissue across your lower back called the thoraco lumbar fascia . This fascia links the spine and the ribs and the pelvis and the glutes all to the upper body. It acts like a tension system that helps to transfer load between the upper and lower body.

When the system is working well, movement is free and easy, load is shared, and moved across the whole system seamlessly, and the back is supported. But when it doesn’t move well, tension then increases load becomes uneven, and the lower back or parts of it have to work harder.

And this is one of the key reasons that people might feel

• tight,
• fatigued,
• guarded,
• overworked in the low back.

The second one is the Psoas and the deep pelvic muscles at the front.

The diaphragm also connects closely with these deep muscles. The psoas attaches to the front of the lumbar spine, and to the pelvic bowl and to the inner thigh. But more importantly, it helps to control how your spine and pelvis are positioned.

Again, when it’s in balance, the spine sits in a good position. The pelvis moves well easily and equally and load transfers evenly. But when it becomes tight or protective or restricted, it can pull the spine and pelvis out of balance, often asymmetrically.

And this can lead to

• increased lumbar curve,
• rotation and side bending, and
• uneven load through the back, and

      =>  this can even present like with a leg length difference.

And again, the lower back ends up compensating.

The third is the rib cage sitting on top of the diaphragm.

The diaphragm attaches into the rib cage, and so for the diaphragm to function properly, the rib cage needs to move well. When the ribs expand and move properly, the diaphragm can descend correctly. Pressure changes from the chest and abdomen are then created effectively, and the system can work smoothly.

But if the rib cage is stiff or restricted, then breathing becomes more shallow, the diaphragm cannot move quite as deeply, and load transfer then becomes less efficient. And the lower back again often starts to take more strain.

These systems influence the lower back through a few key pathways.

Load transfer

If pressure and fascial tension aren’t working properly, the back muscles have to increase their workload.

Pelvic mechanics

The pelvis moves between subtle positions during movements. If this balance is disrupted again, there is increased stress and pressure on the lower back.

Fascial and organ connections

The diaphragm connects through the fascia to the digestive organs, the kidneys, the reproductive organs. Restriction in these areas can influence tension, movement , and they can even create referred pain into the back.

Protective patterns

If the body senses stress or irritation. It creates protective tension. Over time, this tension becomes persistent. Movement begins to change, and pain sensitivity begins to increase.

The key point here is

Your lower back is not just a structure, it’s part of a connected system. And when that system isn’t working efficiently, the back often becomes the place that has to carry too much load.

So instead of only asking what’s wrong with my back? A more helpful question is, what is my back compensating for?

In the next video

I’m going to show you four simple ways that you can start to support your whole system. We’ll look at improving rib cage movement, restoring breathing patterns, and helping the body to distribute load more effectively through the connective and fascial tissues.

Because when the system improves, the lower back often doesn’t have to work so hard anymore.

• Your lower back is probably strong enough.
• Pain doesn’t necessarily mean that something is damaged.
• Often, it simply means the body needs better balance, support, and coordination.

    =>  And when we start restoring that, things can change often quite quickly.

If you found this helpful

Please keep an eye out for the next video. And if you want guidance through this process, book an appointment with us, or you could even work through our ribcage reset mini course to help support your ribcage to allow your lower back to function more freely.  

So that’s it for today. Did it raise any questions or aha moments? If so, I’d love to hear them. So please put those in the comment section. I love answering questions. I hope you found today useful. And if you know someone who could use this information, please share it. Remember to comment, like and subscribe.

Until next time and in health,

Bye for now.

Click the Button Below for my RibCage Reset min-course

Interested in further reading?

1. 1. 1. Postural function of Diaphragm altered with Breathing Requirements
      2. Functions of the Thoracolumbar Fascia
      3. The Diaphragm, spinal stabilisation and Lower Back Pain
      4. Altered Diaphragm position & Function with Chronic Lower Back Pain
      5. The Diaphragm is a central conenctor, affecting organs, the nervous system and the musculoskeletal system
      6. The Diaphragm Functions together with the Lumbar Multifidi and Thoraculumbar Fascia

About Blossoming Me

BlossomingMe offers a fully integrated approach to your wellbeing. Located on Sydney’s Upper North Shore. Sarah is our Cranio-sacral and Remedial Massage Therapist and health and lifestyle coach. She can help relieve those problematic knots, tightness and other specific ailments to promote a healthy recovery. These complementary massage therapies can be combined to suit your needs, and include: craniosacral therapy, shiatsu, acupressure, reiki, remedial, swedish, and body-mind-massage. 

Our qualified Osteopath, Alexis, offers a drug free, minimally invasive, “hands on” treatment focusing on the musculoskeletal system with its associated muscles, tendons, ligaments, membranes, bones and joints. Alexis takes a functional approach. This means that she focuses on the way a component (body part, tissue or group of tissues) performs its role, as well as the way the body works, performs and integrates as a whole. Our team can support you to improve your posture and therefore your overall health.